Ginger Made: Ebony + Nanette + Scout Tee = Happiness!

Hi, guys! Hope your week is off to a great start! Let me start off with a word of explanation: I really, really, really didn’t mean to buy a summery print so late in the year. But I stumbled across this Nanette Lepore linen/silk blend (!) online and immediately fell hard for it (good news- it’s still in stock!!!). [Sidebar: while I can’t afford to wear Nanette Lepore, I would love to- I’m such a huge fan of the Garment District, and so I really appreciate her commitment to bringing garment production back to New York. For more about this, check out Overdressed, if you haven’t already read it!] But, it’s October, so I tried to talk myself out of it. I left the browser window open for two days when I saw Mary‘s tweet that she had just ordered the same print and, well, that little nudge, plus some encouragement from Roisin, was all I needed to pull the trigger! Friends, I’m telling you, Twitter is a DANGEROUS place sometimes! So, my October Mood Sewing Network project looks a bit like an August project! Oops!

I’d planned to use this gorgeous fabric to make a really special dress (check out Kelli’s dress made with a different colorway of the same fabric!), but after I thought about it for a bit, I just couldn’t justify making a dress that would be stuffed in my closet until May. I’ve recently noticed a major hole in my wardrobe- cute tops for everyday wear! So I figured a top would allow me to wear this fun print with a greater degree of frequency.

Haha, this photo shoot was made difficult by the wind swirling around… things don’t usually look this tent-y!

Since the print is so large-scale, I knew that I needed something with a lot of surface area to show it off. I remembered Ebony’s hack of the Grainline Studio Scout Tee pattern, something I’d been meaning to try since I first saw her post. Ebony has the best style and everything she makes I immediately want… she’s just so cool (#girlcrush)! Now, Ebony used a knit, but I thought I could get away with using a woven since the original pattern is designed for wovens and the fabric is quite drapey.

Ebony details how much width and length she added to her pattern, but I didn’t want to do quite as much as she did (plus, I suspect she’s taller than me). So I dropped the front hem by 3″ and the back by 8″ (blending from 3″ at the side seam of the back piece to 8″ at the center back, giving it a nice curved hemline). I also lengthened the sleeves by 4″ (Jen at Grainline has a tutorial for how to do this if you need some pointers!). I slashed and spread the front and back pieces by 8″ each (the most I could do and still fit the pattern pieces on 44″ wide fabric). That’s plenty of extra volume- 32″ total added to the sweep of the hemline! Whoa!

The fabric was super easy to sew and didn’t fray as much as 100% linen, luckily. But it tends to relax and rumple just a bit when you wear it, which I really like. Since it wasn’t fray-crazy, I didn’t bother with fancy seam finishings and just serged the seams. Sometimes you just want to keep it simple! The neckline is finished with bias binding, and the curved hemline got the narrow hem treatment.

I know this isn’t the most flattering garment, but it makes a big splash and is really, really fun to wear. I just feel so happy when I put it on! And isn’t that the best thing about sewing your own clothes? You can wear whatever you like! And, you can channel inspiration from as many sources as you like (in my case, Ebony, Mary, Roisin, Jen, Kelli, and, of course, Nanette Lepore! And the finished garment even makes me think of Liza Jane, somehow) and turn it into a cool garment! I’m really looking forward to seeing what Mary makes with this fabric!

Like this:

Related

Post navigation

80 responses

HOLY GUACAMOLE. I love this, Sonja! I’m very glad I was a bad influence on you. This is really cute and you should be able to get some wear out of now and into next spring and summer as well. NICE WORK, MY FRIEND.

Lovely! There is a saying, dress for the job you want not the one you’re in, or something along those lines, to do with increasing the chances of a promotion if you look the part. Guess you can apply the same logic to seasons. Dress for the season you want not the season you’re in hehe

I LOVE THIS! Beautiful job! I love tops like this that are easy wearing and make a big statement. If it makes you happy who cares if it is a bit tenty. Not that it looks tent-ish on you. I think you hit a great balance with the shape and print.

That fabric! Fantastic! I just ordered 2 1/2 yards and am totally blaming you. I’ve been looking for a good print to make a blouse for my stepmom and step sister for Xmas and because they both live in Florida, linen is a year round thing for them.

This looks super cute on you. Especially the back. I have exactly the same hole to fill in my wardrobe! What a waste-of-space comment this is. Maybe I’ll just keep on chattering about nothing, and then mention again how cute this is on you.

Love this, so glad you took the plunge on the summery fabric. I love Ebony’s style too, i do want own everything she makes! I have met her a few times at the Bay Area Sewist meet ups and she is just as nice as she is stylish! I think that this looks fantastic on you!

Awesome fabric & perfect pattern match. I just finished sewing a silk Scout Woven Tee this morning with a full back adjustment (Jen has a tute for this). My fabric has horse heads on it… no shrinking violet fabric for me either!

I recently sewed the Victory Patterns Roxanne blouse, and it has a lot of similar volume to your Scout Mod. I don’t usually wear this style garment. I’m finding that I LOVE the volume at the back, but I wish I could reign it it through the front. I wonder if I could use an opposite approach to the modification you used here… thoughts?!?

It’s so easy to just make dress after dress since they’re so fun to sew, but I just don’t wear them every day! Tops are pretty satisfying, though, especially something like this- no zipper, no buttonholes, no collar, nothing to slow you down!

It really is hard to resist dresses! They’re just so fun to sew, but they really don’t get much wear (especially now that I have a whole stockpile of them)! Trying to get in the habit of sewing tops that work with my everyday jeans, and so far I’ve really been wearing the ones I’ve made.

OK, hand it over NOW!!! That top is just fantastic and I’m so glad Roisin talked you into the fabric. And hey, in deepest darkest winter we can all do with a reminder that spring will reappear at some point!

when fabric calls one must answer!!! – i just bought not one but two flower printed silk crepe fabrics instead of buying coating. I find this pattern/pattern hack perfect for the print and you look smashing in it! I don’t really get the part where you say it’s not very flattering… I don’t think that all of our clothes must at all cost emphasise some body part – sometimes they can just be easy to wear, nonchalant or playful. This top seems to have great movement and a silhouette that moves well is just as flattering as a silhouette that gives you a wasp waist!

Um, blushing… But also cheering with joy! I’m thrilled to see the tutorial applied so brilliantly! This top is fantastic. Your fabric choice is so happy and bright, which shouldn’t just be limited to sunny seasons. Bring it on in winter, when we need it most, right?

I LOVE this, oh my gosh I am completely seriously obsessed. The pattern, the fabric, (those shoes!), everything is perfect. I really like that you paired this pattern (or alteration of it) with this fabric too, I think the two work really well together. The shirt is super flattering too, I would seriously live in something like this. Thanks also for the new blog recommendation! I’m totally loving Ebony’s blog.

Also, you look like Taylor Swift even in your “derp” photo so basically that’s really unfair. ha I wish I looked like Taylor Swift in my derp photos!